I am new to OpenOffice Impress !! I am using the updated vesion 2.0.1
I am using Windows XP Home .
I want to add music to a slide presentation, I have a presentation made up Ok with timed transitions etc, but I want to add a music bg to the presentation using a mp3 or a wma file etc.
How do I accomplish this?
I noticed in the "advanced slide" task area there is a "sound" window , but the only choices are sound and midi, and when I chose "other sounds" I get another window and then I chose my mp3 audio file it will not allow a selection, only allows "sound and midi"
I understood you can use "Insert/Movie and Sound Object" when I tried this I was able to select the mp3 audio file but it will not seem to play.
I am a bit frustrated, any help would be gladly appreciated !!

Make sure Java is installed and activated. Tools > Options... > Java
The most recent version of Java should be checked with the radio box on the left side.
To install or update Java, go to http://www.java.com and follow the instructions there. If you update Java, you need to check the settings in Tools > Options > Java again.

Could not install MP3 plug-in program.
I d/l java plug in OK, and when installing I received the info that it would install to jre directory, and when selecting "next" nothing would install, tried d/l plugins again and same problem, then tried installing on another computer and the same thing nothing would happen after selecting the "next" button.

When installing the mp3 plugin, you are first asked for a JRE (Java Runtime Environment) directory
and after you click next, another almost identical window asks for a JDK (Java Develompmet Kit) directory.
For me, it suggests a (nonexisting) subfolder of the previously given folder and nothing happens when
pressing next (no "warning: nonexisting dir" or "Dir nonexistant. Do you want to create it?")

I'm not sure if I have a JDK installed, but by changing the destination folder to the exact same directory
as in the previous window/question it continued with the installation when clicking next.

Inserting a sound with "Insert ->Movie and Sound" will only make it play during a single slide though,
at least as far as I can tell. Connecting a music file to a presentation, to be played across several slides
does not seem possible with openoffice today. It is a feature I miss too.

We had all this before with previous versions: the only viable solution seems to be to insert a hyperlink in the first slide, pointing to the sound file. Obviously this must either be accessible via the Internet or on the same computer. If the system is set to play mp3 or wave files with a certain programme, the click on the link will start that programme. Its window can either be clicked to the task bar or allowed to disappear behind the second slide. Admittedly, this is not very elegant, and may not work if you export the presentation to a flash file (although it does if you make a pdf) but it is a functional workaround which most viewers hardly notice.
There may also be a solution using embedded objects, but I've never really sorted that method out.

Open your Impress Presentation
Tools > Macros > Organize Macros > OpenOffice.org Basic...
Under Macro from, click the name of your document to open the tree
Click Standard
Click New
Rename the new module or accept the default and click OK
In the Basic window that appears, substitute the text with your own Basic script. You can use the sample below, but substitute the actual paths on your computer.

Code:

REM ***** BASIC *****

'Impress - Play background music using an external player
'When activated from a mouse event during a slideshow,
'The external player does not show on the screen, however
'if activated from the design view, the external player pops up

Close the basic window.
In Impress design view, select the title of the first slide.
Slide show > Interaction...
Beside Action at mouse click, choose Run Macro
Click Browse...
Select the Library and the Macro name.
Click OK
Click OK
Start the slide show with Slideshow > Slideshow
Click the title you modified
Once the background music starts, you can advance the slides normally (hit the page down key or click the mouse outside of the title)

Last edited by james_h on Mon Dec 25, 2006 10:20 pm; edited 1 time in total

This is very impressive, but I don't see myself creating a macro - like most users, I need to work quickly and with my attention fixed on the content, not on typing Basic commands. If this is possible, why can't such a macro be incorporated into the programme? Agter all. this problem has been kicked around in this forum for a long time.
When I have the time, I shall definitely try out the macro - but will it work afterwards on any machine? Does it depend on the paths within the code?

Thanks for the compliment. Start an external player playing the background music, then start the slide show.

Quote:

If this is possible, why can't such a macro be incorporated into the programme?

The sample macro depends on a specific player being installed in a particular location, so it would not be appropriate to include it as a part of OpenOffice.org.

Quote:

I shall definitely try out the macro - but will it work afterwards on any machine?

No. Another machine may not include the same media player, or the sound file may be located in a different directory.

Quote:

Does it depend on the paths within the code?

Yes.

I do agree that it would be nice if OpenOffice.org Impress included the ability to have a music background continue over several slides. It doesn't. The external player script to put background music in a presentation is an ugly hack, but it works now, with the current version. Hopefully, someone will find it useful.

Open your Impress Presentation
Tools > Macros > Organize Macros > OpenOffice.org Basic...
Under Macro from, click the name of your document to open the tree
Click Standard
Click New
Rename the new module or accept the default and click OK
In the Basic window that appears, substitute the text with your own Basic script. You can use the sample below, but substitute the actual paths on your computer.

Code:

REM ***** BASIC *****

'Impress - Play background music using an external player
'When activated from a mouse event during a slideshow,
'The external player does not show on the screen, however
'if activated from the design view, the external player pops up

I have done everything okay (?) up to this point. But now when I try to select Slide Show > Interaction menu... the "interaction..." submenu is greyed-out (unselectable).

I figure that I must be doing something basic wrong... but I don't know what. I'm a newbie at this. Can someone please explain to me why I can't get the "Slide Show > interaction..." menu (eg the menu option is disabled)!!!!!

In Impress design view, select the title of the first slide.
Slide show > Interaction...
Beside Action at mouse click, choose Run Macro
Click Browse...
Select the Library and the Macro name.
Click OK
Click OK
Start the slide show with Slideshow > Slideshow
Click the title you modified
Once the background music starts, you can advance the slides normally (hit the page down key or click the mouse outside of the title)

when I try to select Slide Show > Interaction menu... the "interaction..." submenu is greyed-out (unselectable).

Although you hide your question quite well, I got it

Take a look at OOo Help. There you can read: "Interaction: Defines how the selected object behaves when you click on it during a slide show." Got it? The most important part is "selected object". Did you select an object prior to calling "Slide Show" -> "Interaction..."? If not, try it.

If you have problems with your MP3 file, don't use file names with blanks in it (at least on Windows it doesn't work). You can check if your marco works correctly from inside the OOo Basic IDE by pressing the little green arrow named "Run BASIC".

when I try to select Slide Show > Interaction menu... the "interaction..." submenu is greyed-out (unselectable).

Although you hide your question quite well, I got it

Take a look at OOo Help. There you can read: "Interaction: Defines how the selected object behaves when you click on it during a slide show." Got it?

NO!!!! I could not find that in the help file. Yes, I do have the help file installed. I find that looking at help files is difficult because there is too much info there for me to find what I'm looking for.

Could you please paste the contents of the help topic into your reply.

The most important part is "selected object". Did you select an object prior to calling "Slide Show" -> "Interaction..."? If not, try it.

As I said (above), I could not find the help topic. INFORMATION OVERLOAD!!!

If you have problems with your MP3 file, don't use file names with blanks in it (at least on Windows it doesn't work). You can check if your marco works correctly from inside the OOo Basic IDE by pressing the little green arrow named "Run BASIC".

NO!!!! I could not find that in the help file. Yes, I do have the help file installed. I find that looking at help files is difficult because there is too much info there for me to find what I'm looking for.

Call "Help" -> "OpenOffice.org Help", click on the tab "Index", enter the search item "interactions;objects in interactive presentations". There you have it.

I am now feeling extremely frustrated and upset. I have visited the help page which you referred to many times in the past.

I am still no more the wiser as to why the Slide Show > Interactions... submenu is greyed-out and unselectable.

Nothing I do... and I repeat nothing I do will make this menu option selectable. I am beginning to question the iintelligence of the programmers who wrote this software. Why does the Impress program not even supply a hint window telling me what I need to do to make this menu option selectable.

If you are getting the message that I am upset and the moment, then at least we will be communicating. I am feeling quite pissed off at the Impress program and questioning the wisdom of it's software engineers.

NO!!!! I could not find that in the help file. Yes, I do have the help file installed. I find that looking at help files is difficult because there is too much info there for me to find what I'm looking for.

Call "Help" -> "OpenOffice.org Help", click on the tab "Index", enter the search item "interactions;objects in interactive presentations". There you have it.

I am still no more the wiser as to why the Slide Show > Interactions... submenu is greyed-out and unselectable.

Question: Do you have at least one slide?
If so, do you have written anything an at least one slide?
If so, did you select it (put the mouse pointer above the text and press the left mouse button), so that it is surrounded by eight little green boxes?
If so, take now a closer look at the menu "Slide Show" > "Interactions...". It should be enabled, because you have an object selected, as the online help demands.

If not, tell more explicitly how your Impress presentation looks like and how you tried to select something on your slides, if there is anything.